Literary notes about Discard (AI summary)
In literature, “discard” is employed with remarkable flexibility, referring both to a literal tossing aside of physical objects and to the figurative rejection of ideas, beliefs, or practices. In some works, it is invoked in the strategic realm, as when characters refuse to pay heed to a partner’s initial move in a card game and instead choose their own course [1, 2]. Elsewhere, the term takes on a more abstract dimension—depicting a willful renunciation, such as casting off unwanted habits, obsolete ideologies, or even a notion as profound as the soul [3, 4]. Additionally, authors use “discard” to illustrate moments of transformation, whether it is the shedding of superfluous adornments or the elimination of outdated language and customs [5, 6]. Through these varied uses, the word becomes a powerful tool for conveying the act of letting go in both tangible and metaphorical ways.
- (8) Never pay any attention to your partner’s first discard, unless it is a forced discard (page 32); lead your own suit.
— from Whist; or, Bumblepuppy? Thirteen Lectures Addressed to Children by John Petch Hewby - The discard contained the right number of cards and his opponent's face gave no hint to the thoughts behind it.
— from The Coming of Cassidy—And the Others by Clarence Edward Mulford - By all the gods that Romans bow before, I here discard my sickness.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - I therefore feel entirely free to discard the word Soul from the rest of this book.
— from The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James - Young girls before their wedding may wear bangles of many kinds: but the first act of widowhood is to discard them all.
— from Women of India by Otto Rothfield - You must discard the word Fancy altogether.
— from Hard Times by Charles Dickens
